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(No Model.)

E. L, MORRIS,

VISE.

No. 288,722, Patented Nov. 20,1883,

WHHEEEES.

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invention is illustrated.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC EDWARD I1. MORRIS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

VISE.

SPEQIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 288,722, dated November 20), 1883.

Application filed April 14, 1883. (No model.)

.Toall whom it mar concern Be it known that I, EDWARD L. Mowers, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Vises, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of vises in which the movable jaw is operated by a screw, and particularly to a peculiar construction, by means of which the nut may be readily engaged with or disengaged from the screw, for the purpose of adjusting the jaws rapidly to the size of the article to be secured therein.

In vises, as ordinarily constructed, for rapid movement various double-screws, racks, and other devices have been used whose adjustalole features are more or less complicated and incomplete in their method of operation. In other cases one of the jaws requires to be lifted before the screw can be disengaged.

The object of my invention is to overcome these objections and to provide a simple mechanism by means of which the nut may be readily engaged with or disengaged from the screw at any point, the means of manipulating the nut being placed at a point convenient of operation from the front of the vise.

In the accompanying plate of drawings my Figure 1 is a central vertical longitudinal section, and Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section on line 2 2, Fig. 1.

In Fig. 1, A represents the fixed jaw or body of the vise. Bis the movable jaw, having an arm, 0, which slides longitudinally within the body A. The arm 0 is hollow, being open at the bottom. D is the screw carried within the arm 0, which actuates the front or movable jaw, B, and which may be attachedthereto in any suitable manner. A bearing-surface, g, in the arm 0 is provided midway of the screw D, to steady the same and keep it from springing. An open nut, E, is attached to the body of thevise at h, in such a manner that the front or threaded portion of the nut may have a free movement up and down, and the lever or button F, by which the nut E is raised or lowered, is attached at i to the front portion of the body A, so that it may be easily reached by the operator when facing the front of the vise. When the nut E is raised to its highest point and there held by the lever or button F, the screw D, carrying the jaw B, may be turned backward and forward therein, as in the ordinary nut; but when it is desired to disengage the nut for the purpose of moving the jaw B rapidly, the nut E is dropped clear of the screw by tripping the lever F, the nut falling by its own weight. When the jaw B has been moved to about the size of the article to be gripped, the nut E is raised again to its former position by working the lever F, which comes to arest by striking the screw and nut are preferably beveled upon corresponding sides. It will be seen that when this is the case the slight forward motion given to the nut in dropping from the hinged point h allows the threads to free easily, and the re verse motion likewise connects them readily. It will be seen, also, that the interlock of the nut E with the screw D being brought well forward in the vise, and the support F for the nut being nearly under the point of meeting of the jaws, the downward pressure exerted. by the movable jaw B and arm 0, when the work is gripped, tends to force the threads of the screw and nut more firmly into gear with each other, even though the .nut E be connected quiteloosely with the body of the vise at h, in which case the support or leverF acts as a rocker, upon which the nut E may adjust itself to the line of the screw D. A practical advantage gained by arranging the lever F upon the vise-body at i is that, being extended below thevise-body and manipulatreadily operated without the necessity of reaching around to one side of the vise. This advantage is particularly important in cases where the work secured in the vise is of such shape as to practically shut off approach to any tripping device which might be arranged at one side of the vise-body.

A spring, Z, attached to the body A, and acting upon the lever F, may be used to aid in forcing up the nut E and to hold the lever F in position verticallyas when the nut is engaged with the screwor horizontallyas when the lever is tripped-the curved link m, which connects the springl with the lever F, partially encircling the pivot i when the lever is tripped, and so bringing the tension of the ed from underneath the vise, the lever may be the stop K upon the nut E. The threads of spring Z upon the lever F a little above the pivot e. Other forms of spring may be used to accomplish the same result.

The lever F may have its upper portion cam-shaped, if desired, the shape being immaterial so long as it readily lifts the nut E.

I do not confine myself to any particular mode of fastening for the nut E at the point h.

It is evident that my invention may be used in Vises of other construction'than that particularly shown in the drawingsas, for instance, in vises whose jaws are loosely connected at theirlower extremities and opened or closed by means of a screw-my invention relating simply to a nut, means of liberating a nut from the screw, and a peculiar location, relative to the jaws of the vise, of means for so liberating a nut, all substantially as hereinbefore described. 4

It is evident, also, that the lever or button F, located as described, may be used with advantage to manipulate an open nut whose every portion shall have a free movement up and down-that is, without the hinged action particularly shown in the drawings.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination with the fixed and movable vise-jaws A and B and the screw D, a nut arranged to be placed into and out of engagement with the screw, in combination with an independent lever or button, F, upon the visebody, and arranged to be manipulated or handled for operation from underneath the vise, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In combination with the screw and jaws of a vise, the open nut E, swinging from a center, h, and constructed and arranged to be engaged with or disengaged from the screw by means of an independent lever or button, F, 0

substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In combination with the screw and jaws of a vise and a nut arranged to be placed into and out of engagement with the screw, the

lever or button F, and a spring, 1, arranged to 5 operate the lever, and thereby force the nut into engagement with the screw, substantially as and for the purpose described.

LEsTER O. HUBBARD, WM. F. GRIFFIN. 

